'Pawn Stars' guest brings an 'iconic' surfboard but even $65,000 offer wasn't enough to seal the deal
The guest ran a hard bargain, but the item was iconic enough to be worth that much money.
July 28 2025, Published 10:45 a.m. ET
Among vintage items that appear on "Pawn Stars," memorabilia related to movies, celebs, and pop culture attracts Rick Harrison's attention. The Beach Boys are among the most iconic names in rock music, and it's not surprising that a guest wanted $100,000 for a surfboard linked to them.
Any Beach Boys fan would consider "Surfin Safari’" and "Surfer Girl" to be two of their best records. The album art for both of them was all five members of the band with a massive surfboard. That is exactly what the guest had brought to the show. He even had the required provenance that was notarised to ensure that what he had wasn’t a fake. The only problem was his asking price for it.
The guest said that the surfboard had been insured for $200,000 at the Grammy museum, and what he wanted was half of that. The surfboard belonged to the band’s drummer, Dennis Wilson, who was the only one in the outfit who could surf and had a strong affinity towards beaches. As per the guest’s story, Wilson had given it to a man named Louis Marotta, who was his neighbour and friend.
Marotta had given the board to the guest’s father in 1985, and he later inherited it. It was a great story, and the guest had the provenance to prove it. However, anyone familiar with Rick Harrison knows that he is never going to pay a six-figure sum for a surfboard, no matter how iconic it might be. To get a better sense of the item’s value, he called in an expert to check it out.
The expert was also impressed by the surfboard and said that he, too, would want $100,000 for it. There was no question that the item was authentic and valuable. The expert said that Harrison would have a hard time selling it for $100,000 and suggested $70,000 to be a better price for the board. He also mentioned that the $200,000 insurance value doesn’t always reflect the item’s true value.
Harrison offered less than what the guest was asking for at $65,000. However, it seemed like a deal could be struck as the guest said that the price was close to the minimum he would take. The next moment, he quoted a price that was $10,000 more than what was offered. As a result, no sale was made that day. The guest did call it a generous offer.
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